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The plight of 21 million refugees worldwide will become the focus of a U.N. summit. And this time round, the spotlight is on Syrian refugees fleeing the country's civil war. CCTV's Roza Kazan met one family in New Jersey, and tells us how a happy ending is far from sight still.

When the four children on the Alarjeh family heard the U.S. State Department had selected them to come to America, they had big hopes.

"When I was in Syria, I used to hear a lot about the United States. That it's very big and beautiful, and they have great schools here," said Mahel Alarjeh, Syrian refugee.

In Syria, Ziayd ran his own business, repairing air conditioners and refrigerators. But when the civil war broke out the family fled to Jordan. They came to the U.S. in July 2015 - in hopes of a better life. But the reality turned out much harsher than the dream.

"Work is very difficult here. Back home, we don't get paid by the hour and because I didn't go to college here, all I can do here is hard manual labor, lifting things," said Ziyad Alarjeh, Syrian refugee.

Ziyad works in construction, traveling an hour each way. His wife, Lama, has health problems and cannot work.

"We are not very happy here, Dad is always at work and comes back very tired, and Mom has to go to see the doctor all the time," said Muhanad Alarjeh, Syrian refugee.

They receive seven hundred dollars a month in food stamps. And got rent assistance for the first three months. But now the family is on its own.

Ziyad earns about 1,600 dollars a month. The rent for their two-bedroom apartment is 1,400.

"I never thought I would have to work a whole month just to pay the rent. I thought maybe half of my salary would be spent on rent but not all of it," he said.

Syria's protracted civil war has displaced 11 million people. Nearly five million have fled abroad. The United States so far has pledged to accept 10-thousand.

Many of the Syrian refugees, desperate for safety, have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. These are some of the life jackets they used, which the international charity Oxfam has brought here to New York from Greece.

They say the lifejackets illustrate the dangers families face.

And for the Alarjehs, their struggle has yet to have a happy ending.

"There is no hope for me here, no prospects. God willing, the hope is for my children, that they get an education. All I hope for myself is to go back safely to Syria," Ziyad Alarjeh said.

A dream that may be yet long in the making.